GENERAL MOVEMENTS ON THE FRENCH AND FLANDERS FRONTS
We have seen that at the end of November, 1914, Ypres was still
in the Allies' hands, though the Germans were exerting a fierce
pressure in that region, and were gradually, even if very slowly,
getting closer and closer to it.
At the beginning of December, 1914, the Germans drew their forces
close up to Ypres, so closely in fact that they could bring into
play their small-caliber howitzers, and before many hours Ypres
was in flames in many places. The allied forces fought fiercely
to compel the Germans to withdraw. Hand-to-hand fighting, bayonet
charges, and general confusion was the order of the day. Thousands
of men would creep out of their holes in the ground and crawl,
availing themselves of whatever covering presented itself, to some
vantage point and there stand up as one man and charge directly
into the adversary's ranks.
All this was part of the general scheme worked out miles from the
spot where the conflict was going on. There in some quaint little
town occupying some out-of-the-way house was the General Staff.
The rooms were filled with officers; the walls were hung with large
and small field and detail maps, upon which were plainly marked the
name of every commanding officer and the forces under his command.
Every detail of the armies' strength--names of the commanders, and
any other detail was plainly in view.
It was here decided to turn the entire command of the allied forces
along the Yser over to the British to avoid confusion. It was well
that this was done just at this time, for on December 3, 1914, the
Germans made a fierce onslaught along the entire front of thirteen
miles between Ypres and Dixmude, bringing into use a great number of
stanch rafts propelled by expert watermen, thus carrying thousands
of the German forces over and along the Ypres River.
Again the belligerents came to a hand-to-hand conflict, and so
well directed was the allied counterattack that no advantage to the
Germans was obtained. For three days this severe fighting continued.
The struggle was most sharp between Dixmude and the coast at Westende,
where the Germans hoped to break through the allied lines, and thus
crumple up their entire front, making a free passage.
On December 7, 1914, the French captured Vermelles, a minor village
a few miles southwest of La Bassée. This little village had been
the center of a continuous struggle for mastership for nearly two
months. At last the French occupied this rather commanding point,
important to the Allies, as it afforded an excellent view over
a wide stretch of country occupied by the Germans.
The German Staff headquarters were removed from Roulers, which is
about twelve miles distant from Ypres, on December 8, 1914, from
the vicinity of Ypres, while their own forces had been concentrated
upon Dixmude, twelve miles to the north. This town had suffered
severely before, but the allied forces using what shelter they
could improvise, were doing considerable damage from this point.
Therefore the Germans began to bombard the place.
On December 9, 1914, the Germans succeeded in gaining slightly
toward Ypres. Farther north they were by this time also in a position
to take Furnes under fire. This town lies on the frontier between
Belgium and France, in the path of some of the most savage onslaughts
on the part of the Germans to break through the allied lines in
order to reach the channel towns of Dunkirk and Calais.
On December 10, 1914, the allied forces made an ineffectual attack
on Roulers, which the German General Staff had just left. South
of Ypres the allied forces made a severe attack upon the town of
Armentières, about eight miles from Ypres, but gained no permanent
advantage.
During this time the Germans had also so far succeeded in consolidating
their positions in the neighborhood of Ostend, that they could
put their heavy guns in position near the shores of that famous
watering place. This was a very necessary precaution to meet the
attacks of English gunboats, and even larger cruisers that were
patrolling that coast.
On December 12, 1914, the severest fighting was along the Yser Canal,
which was crossed and recrossed several times.
On December 13, 1914, the Allies succeeded in repulsing the Germans
on the River Lys, where for three days the Germans had inaugurated
a hot offensive. These engagements were exact counterparts of the
fighting at other points in Flanders, where both opponents were
apparently well matched, and where advantages were won and lost
in rapid succession.
There was severe fighting also on December 14, 1914, extending
along the entire front in Flanders from Nieuport to below Ypres. In
the north the Germans made severe onslaughts, all more or less held
up or repulsed by the Belgians, French, and English. The fighting was
hottest near Nieuport, where the Allies made some small temporary
gains. Besides the three armies participating in the conflict,
the British fleet also took part in bombarding the German coast
positions. Three British barges equipped with naval machine guns
entered the River Yser in order to cooperate in the fighting. These
boats took the two villages Lombaertzyde and St. Georges.
In this action some of the heaviest fighting was done by the French
marines. Some slight advantages were also gained by the Allies in
the neighborhood of St. Eloi and Klein Zillebeke.
Following these minor successes, attack was made upon the German
lines on the west side of Wytschaete, a village which the Germans
had succeeded in holding during the great battle of Ypres. To the
west of this village is a wood called the Petit Bois, and to the
southwest is the Maedelsteed spur, an eminence on hilly ground.
From both of these places the Germans covered the village, prepared
to hold it against all comers.
Major Duncan, commanding the Scots, and Major Baird leading the
Royal Highlanders, attacked the Petit Bois, and in the flare of
terrible machine gun and rifle fire, carried a trench west of the
woods, while the Gordon Highlanders advanced upon the spur, taking
the first trench. They were, however, obliged to fall back to the
position from which they had started, with no advantage gained. This
engagement at Wytschaete gave a good illustration of the difficulty
of fighting in heavy, winter ground, devoid of cover, and so
water-logged that any speed in advance was next to impossible.
Just prior to the battle the ground had thawed, and the soldiers
sank deep into the mud at every step they took.
On December 15, 1914, the Germans attacked a little to the south
of Ypres, but no definite result was obtained. On the following
day the Allies replied by an onslaught at Dixmude with a similar
result. The Germans attempted to turn and strike at Westende the
next day.
Roulers was temporarily occupied by the Allies on December 18,
1914, and in another location, about twenty-five miles farther
southwest, in the neighborhood of Givenchy, the Allies' Indian
troops were put to the test. The attack was launched on the morning
of the 19th.
The Lahore and the Meerut divisions both took part. The Meerut
division succeeded in capturing a trench; but a little later on a
counterattack, launched by the Germans, forced the Indians back.
The Lahore division, including the First Highland Light Infantry
and the Fourth Gurkhas, took two lines of the enemy's trenches
with hardly any casualties. These captured trenches were at once
occupied, and when they were full to capacity, the Germans exploded
the previously prepared mines, and blew up the entire Hindu force.
At daylight on the morning of December 20, 1914, the Germans commenced
a heavy artillery fire along the entire front. This was followed
by an infantry charge along the entire line between Givenchy and
La Quinque Rue to the north. The defense of Givenchy was in the
hands of the India Sirhind Brigade, under General Brunker. At ten
o'clock the Sirhinds became confused and fled, enabling the Germans
to capture Givenchy. The Fifty-seventh Rifles and the Ninth Bhopals
were stationed north of La Bassée Canal and east of Givenchy, and
the Connaught Rangers were waiting at the south of the canal. The
Forty-seventh Sikhs were sent to support the Sirhind Brigade, with
the First Manchesters, the Fourth Suffolks, and two battalions
of French Provincials, the entire force being under command of
General Carnegy. All these mixed forces now essayed a combined
counterattack in order to recover the ground lost by the Sirhind
Brigade, but this failed.
The Allies called up reserves and re-formed the ranks broken by
that day's reverses. With the Seventh Dragoon Guards under the
command of Lieutenant Colonel Lemprière, they began another attack.
This, too, failed. When the Sirhind Brigade fell back, the Seaforth
Highlanders were left entirely exposed. The Fifty-eighth Rifles
went to the support of their left. Throughout the entire afternoon
the Seaforths had made strenuous efforts to capture the German
trenches to the right and left of their position. Upon the arrival
of the Fifty-eighth the fighting redoubled in ferocity, but no
advance was made. Finally word was given to retreat. The Allies
lost heavily in killed, wounded, and prisoners.
The First Brigade was detached, and by midnight it had reached
Bethune, about five miles west of Givenchy. Sir Douglas Haig was
ordered to move also, the entire First Division in support of the
exhausted Indian troops.
Action was begun on December 20, 1914, early in the afternoon by
a simultaneous attack, and was continued until nightfall without
important results. The next morning General Haig in person took
the command, but little ground was gained.
While this contest was in progress around Givenchy, the Germans
took possession of the city of Arras, ten miles to the south.
Between December 23 and 30, 1914, the Belgian army, strongly reenforced
by French troops, began a series of violent attacks upon the German
lines; but the Germans replied by a ceaseless bombardment of Nieuport,
which is about a mile inland. No results of importance were obtained
on either side.
The last week of December, 1914, bore a relieving holiday aspect,
for it seemed as though by general consent the carnival of mood was
to be considered not consonant with the solemnity of the season.
But for all that the French succeeded in blowing up some German
trenches with a new howitzer they were anxious to tryout, and the
Belgian-French forces retook St. Georges in northern Flanders.
St. Georges had been held by the Germans for some time; the village
stands on the right hand of the Yser, and it was the only position
they retained on that side of the river. It seems from the very
ease with which the village was taken that the Germans felt their
position there untenable, and withdrew to their own side of the
river in order to enjoy a quiet Christmas with their comrades,
whose singing of Christmas songs was forever being wafted over
that river of blood. Although the general action continued on both
sides, no serious battles are to be recorded in Flanders for the
balance of the year 1914.
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